A burning city & glorious purposes
by EllaLovesMusicc
Summary: Thor doesn't come back for Jane, and then suddenly he appears on the news... [I put this thing under 'Thor' because it only's got Thor characters, but it takes place somewhat post-Avengers] Going to ignore Thor 2, haven't seen it yet. Probably not entirely canon with the end of the Avengers either (it could fit in though, with some imagination).
1. Chapter 1

_Nothing more than a little oneshot about where Jane was during the events of New York. Could be continued if there's any interest ^^._

I own nothing

**Chapter 1**

"Jane?" Her eyes widened and her gaze lingered upon the screen as it had never done before – not even during the season finale of Sherlock. "Jane, I think you really want to see this."

She could hear the annoyed sigh Jane always made when she was being disturbed while working. "What?" she blankly asked. "I've got important things to do, Darcy, please tell me this is not about…"

"I believe your boyfriend is on TV." Darcy grabbed her glasses and looked more closely. "Yep. Muscled, gorgeous womanly hair – couldn't miss."

Jane sat down beside her and her mouth fell open. "How? What?" Darcy shrugged. Jane stared at the screen and went all up in listening to whatever the blond woman on the news had to say about it.

Darcy grabbed her phone and started scrolling through her Twitter timeline. "Whatever it is, Jane, it's sort of a big thing. It feels like every person on earth is talking about it. New York." Puzzled, she looked at her screen. "Couldn't be bothered to visit us, could he?" she said accusingly.

"I think… I think he's busy, Darcy," Jane whispered, as she pointed at the screen, silently. Darcy sat down on the couch once more and watched. Their screen was rather bad (old TV, Jane minded more about scientific stuff than about TVs – for Darcy it worked the other way around), but it was still pretty clear what was going on. You don't need HD resolution to recognise a burning city. New York. "Why – why is it burning, Jane? What the hell has happened there?"

"Sst," Jane said, "could you please just listen for every once in a while?"

The blond woman's voice filled the whole room. _'There is an incredible amount of damage, caused by creatures still unknown to us. The day was saved by so-called heroes _– the screen was filled by people Darcy had never seen before in her whole life, she just knew one of those heroes had to be Thor – _we don't even know. What is going to be happening now, Mr. Stevinton?'_

Jane shut off the TV, but didn't stop staring at the screen. Silence. "I don't know…"

"Huh?"

"I don't know what happened."

"It looks really bad." Darcy opened her phone once again and started looking at all the pictures. Awful images, really – and suddenly something caught her eye. There was a picture of a man. Tall. Not very old, long black hair, pale skin, weird clothes. Could be one of Thor's, she thought. She scrolled further through the page, only to find out he was the one who caused all of it. All of it. There was something with aliens, and lighting, and it was all just very confusing. This guy – whoever he was – had wanted to conquer the world. He had stated something like that in Germany, she read. Burdened with glorious purpose. She laughed. It all just seemed so absurd. Who was this guy to think that they would all just kneel to him and do as he said? Didn't have a foot to stand on. Apart from the fact that he had an army of flying super-alien robots, of course. She was going to show it to Jane, and then have a really good laugh at it, but then she saw it. _Loki of Asgard. 'I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.'_

"Jane…"

Jane just looked at her with numb eyes, not really over the shock yet.

"I think… I think I might know how caused this, eh, chaos." She showed Jane her phone, but Jane didn't seem to get it. "Asgard, Jane, the article says Loki of Asgard."

"So?" Jane asked. "I'm not really surprised that a guy who unleashes an army of flying robot-lizard-alien-things over New York is from Asgard."

"Just think, Jane, think. It was Thor's brother who send the huge robot to kill us last year. Couldn't it be the same brother…"

"In mythology Loki was the God of Mischief or something like that, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't Thor's brother."

"In Norse mythology Thor didn't have any brothers that wanted to kill him either," Darcy said, sharply. "As far as I know," she added hastily.

"Darcy, if this Loki you are talking about is his brother…"

"…that would explain why he was, or is, on earth," she ended Jane's sentence.

"I think…" Jane started, and she looked at Darcy with a half-smile. "I think we're going on a little trip."

Darcy got on her feet, excitement running through her veins. "I'll go packing."

"Darcy?"

"Hmm?"

"Just don't get to excited – I'd bet a hundred dollars half the shops are closed down."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Goin' to New York, aren't ya?" the man at the gas station said. They weren't in New Mexico anymore (they had left after a while, trying to find another place where there was weird pole light appearing – they had been unsuccessful, though), but it was still one hell of a ride to New York.

"Yeah," Jane answered. "Why?"

The man shook his head. "A lot of people goin' there. Ramp tourists."

"We're not ramp tourists," Jane said sharply, "we're looking for a friend."

The man's look softened slightly. "Good luck, then. You'll need it. Half NY seems to be in ruins – and finding someone in New York is hard enough already without it being more chaotic than is usual."

Jane muttered a 'thanks' in a you're-not-helping sort of tone and climbed into the jeep again.

"He's got a point though, you know?" Darcy said once they were driving again.

"Hmm?" Jane had sunken into her own mind again. She'd been thinking about what she'd say to Thor once she'd see him again – should she be mad, or not. What should she say anyway? That she missed him, or was that too cheesy and girly?

Darcy sighed. "How are we going to find him? I mean, he won't be just walking around New York. And even if he is, New York is _huge_. How are we ever going to find him?"

That actually _was_ a point. Perhaps that was even a more useful point to worry about what she should say. They had to find him before she could say anything anyway. "Eh…" was all she could bring herself to.

"Great, you don't know either."

They sat in silence. Neither of them seemed to be able to come up with a good idea.

"Is it silly to just ask people?"

"Yes."

It was about midnight when they arrived. After a little while they found a nice little hotel (that wasn't in ruins) and they spend the night there. When they woke up, they had breakfast and asked the woman who was running the place if she knew a way to find people in this chaos, like a point where you come and ask for missing people.

She told them that there was something like that about 10 streets away, but that they shouldn't get there hopes up. Lots of people were still missing and lots of people had died. She told them she'd seen it all and told them a story of half an hour about how she had seen one of those robot-y things kill an employee of the bakery next door, after which she burst into tears, making Jane and Darcy wonder whether coming here had been a good idea.

"So… who are you looking for?"

"Eh, his name is Thor."

The man looked at her strangely and told them to wait for a bit. That was when Darcy saw him. The Stark-guy, casually walking around the streets with some woman.

"Jane…" she said and she pulled her arm like a child. "Isn't that that guy…"

Jane didn't even answer her question and just ran out of the building. She pulled the man's shoulder. "You're Tony Stark, right?"

The guy turned around and took of his sunglasses. A bright smile appeared upon his face. "Indeed I am."

"Tony…" the woman next to him sighed, "we were…"

"And who are you?"

"I – I am Jane Foster. I am looking for something, and I thing you may know where to find him."

The man's smile faded as he said: "I've seen a lot of people last weekend, and I'm not sure if I can help you."  
"We're looking for Thor," Darcy added. "He's her boyfriend."  
Jane looked at her accusingly, but Stark's smile found a way to his face again. "Oh, well, in that case I _may _be able to help you."  
"Do you know where he is?" Jane asked immediately.

"I do, but…."  
"Where is he?"

"I know where he is, darling, I just don't know if they will let you in there. SHIELD's talking to him and that deluded brother of his'. Thor has to take him to their planet, but SHIELD doesn't want to just 'give him away' or something like that. They were having quite an argument about it, actually."

"SHIELD…" Jane muttered.

"I TOLD YOU! I told you he's his brother!" Darcy screamed, and the Stark-guy just looked confused at the both of them.

"Sort of, yeah. I believe he was adopted, but…"

"I don't really care," Jane interrupted him. "I just want to talk to Thor. Do you think you can help me?"  
The man sighed, and looked at the woman next to him. "Pepper, do you think we can?"  
The woman smiled at Jane, understanding. "We can try."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The next few days basically existed of Tony Stark making (very unsuccessful) phone calls and Pepper making (more successful) phone calls. Finally, on a misty Tuesday morning, SHIELD was willing to take them in.

"I knew they would give in in the end," Tony grinned. "They couldn't resist my persuasive skills if they wanted to."

Jane and Darcy expressed their thanks, laughed because of Pepper's _"Why do you always take all the credit, you were the one who kept calling him after midnight and I doubt he liked that"_. Tony drove them to SHIELD. "Someone's waiting for you two."

"Won't you come with us?" Jane asked, frowning.

Tony shrugged. "They don't really like me that much. They think I'm an attention addict and I don't always agree with their ways. Actually, I hardly ever agree with their ways."

"I'm not going to deny the first point," Jane smiled.

"Just tell Thor I said hi, OK?"

Jane nodded, and thanked him (Darcy thought this was the 100th time she thanked him and that she was overdoing it, but then again – he didn't have to help them, so it was kind of fair to thank him).

Two SHIELD agents took them in and kept telling them stuff about how exceptional it was that they were permitted inside, but Jane didn't listen. All she thought about, was how she would see Thor again. She missed him so much, and she had so much to ask. Why didn't he come for her immediately? Immediately after? Or did SHIELD force him to stay here? She laughed at herself when she thought that. Thor wasn't the sort of person who'd let people tell him what to do. Especially not SHIELD. So what had changed? She told herself not to worry too much. There was probably a logical explanation for him breaking the promise to come back, for him not being with her now.

"Jane?" It was Darcy, looking at her, worried. "Jane, he's in here. We can go in." She thanked the agents and smiled, but her stomach was wringing itself in tense knots while she was searching for the right words to say. "Just go," Darcy said, and she pushed Jane in the back. "I'll go with you and he won't bite. As far as I know."

Jane took a deep breath before another agent opened the door for them. She stepped into a small room. The walls looked just as metal as all the other walls in this place, but somehow they were different. _Felt _different.

"Ah, looks like we have visitors, brother," a voice said. Jane froze. That wasn't Thor's voice. It was cold, as if it was coated with ice. That wasn't Thor's at all. She looked up at the black-haired figure. He was the guy from the news. He was Thor's _brother_? He was handcuffed, but there didn't seem to be much more restraining him from simply killing them all. From slaughtering more people.

Thor turned to her, surprised to see her, somehow. "Jane…" He took her head in both his hands and brought her forehead to his'. "Jane…" he whispered. Jane was paralyzed. "I missed you," Thor said, quietly, and then he put his strong arms around her. Without hesitation she put hers around his waist. "I missed you too."

"Eh, not trying to ruin your cute little moment here, but I have a question." Both Jane and Thor looked up at Darcy, who was gesturing puzzled at Thor's brother, nervously juggling her weight between her two legs. "What is _he _doing _here_? I mean, not here in SHIELD, I get that, SHIELD, but I mean in this room. With us. Like, shouldn't he be in a cell or something like that? He _did_ try to kill every single person on this planet, from what I've heard of it."

The black-haired figure smiled, but remained silent.

"He is my brother, Loki, Lady Darcy, and this _is_ his cell. I did not mean to meet you here."  
"Then why are we here?" Darcy asked. "SHIELD agents in a hurry or something? So much hurry that they would drop us off here, with _him_?"

"The cell restrains his magic, you need not to fear, Lady Darcy. He can't hurt anyone in here."

"Do you deem me so low that you think I am powerless without my magic, Thor? Are you really that naïve?"

Thor's face turned rather grim, but he didn't say a word. "We will leave this room, and I will explain," Thor said. He turned to his brother, saying: "This will not be the last time we speak, I will see you again."  
"I look forward to it." Jane could just see his smirk before the metal door closed behind them. 

**OOO**

"So, explain," Jane said, facing Thor.

Thor sighed. "You know my brother attacked New York."  
"Yeah, the news brought us that far, but…"

"And he attacked us back in New Mexico. You ought to know."

Jane frowned.

"What?" Darcy yelled. "But…"

"Things have been… complicated. The Bifröst was destroyed, so I couldn't come back just yet. When I heard of my brothers doings in Stuttgart, I came immediately."

"Then why didn't you come to me before, to us?"

"I am truly sorry, Jane, but the Nine Realms aren't in a time of peace. The Jotuns still hold grudge against Asgard, as do plenty of other realms. I had to stay. But when I heard that Loki… that he was still alive…"

"What do you mean? Still alive? You just said that he attacked us in New Mexico. And he attacked New York. Doesn't sound very dead to me," Darcy said, confused.

Thor looked pained, and Jane didn't really know what they were missing.

"After New Mexico, after my return, I found out that Loki had seized to the throne, with my father fallen into the Odin-sleep. He was trying to destroy Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants, using the Bifröst. I battled him – my own brother – and destroyed the Bifröst to save Jotunheim. That was why I couldn't return." Thor's voice was calm, but his hands were shaking slightly.

"What happened?" Jane asked in a soft voice.

"He… I… I was holding on to the bridge, and he was holding on to me. And he let go."

Darcy frowned. "You mean that he sort of committed suicide?"

Jane sighed at her intern's, her friend's, tactlessness.

"Yes," Thor said, not looking at her. "I thought he had long perished between the stars, and then I heard that…"

Jane placed a warm hand upon his shoulder.

Darcy didn't understand. She just really didn't. This brother of his, this Loki, he had tried to kill them. To kill Thor, more specifically. And yet it looked like he still cared about him. A lot. She couldn't get her head around it. He was his brother and everything, but she thought there was a limit, even to brotherly love.

"I only wish to take him home. He will be put on trial on Asgard. Yet SHIELD will not let me take him."  
"Might have something to do with the fact that he attacked our planet."

"Verily. Yet he will be put on trial for that too, Lady Darcy."

"But Thor, it's _our _planet. Don't you see? People want to see him sentenced. People want to see justice."

"Justice there will be."

Darcy's blood boiled and she could feel her face redden because of the anger. Jane placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Thor," she said. "I understand that you wish to bring him home, but people have died here. If he will be put on trial on Asgard, people here won't see a bit of it. They won't see your justice. And that's what they want, Thor, they want to see how the man who made them suffer is put away. I doubt SHIELD's alone in that."

"But he _will _be put away, I don't doubt that. The All-Father's judgments are hardly ever kind."

Jane put her hand on Thor's arm. "I believe you. But not everyone will. That's why SHIELD wants to, well, you know… keep him. They want to show the people that justice is done. Otherwise… otherwise people feel like defeating him was all in vain. People need to be shown."

Thor nodded, finally understanding, but didn't say anything. Darcy knew that – even though he understood – he still didn't agree. Why did he care so much? What difference would it make if he was here on earth or on his own planet. She couldn't see what difference it would make to the guy himself – being locked up in one place or in another. It was all the same. But not to Thor, apparently. She started wondering if he didn't do it for his brother, but just for himself. Just because he didn't want to be without him. She realized she didn't have a clue how close these two actually were. It didn't struck her as such, but what did she know? She knew nothing about them. Not even of Thor, who had been with them. She hardly knew who he _really _was.

"Thor…" she said.

"Yes, Lady Darcy?"

"Please cut out the whole Lady-thing. You don't call Jane Lady either."

Thor smiled. "Whatever pleases you, Darcy. What do you want to ask?"

"I wondered… do you have any idea why he attacked New York?" The question was probably out of place, she realized that, but she just wanted to know. Was there anything redeeming in his motivations – something she had missed herself? All she could do was ask.

Thor shook his head. "I am clueless."

Darcy looked at him with a strange look. "He's your brother. Sure you must have some kind of idea."

Thor sighed. "He's been away for a long time."

"That's why you don't want him to be imprisoned here, is it?" Jane said quietly.

Thor looked into her eyes. "Whatever he has done, I do not wish to lose him again…"

**OOO**

"I ain't just gonna do what you want me to do, not even if you are some kind of god. I'm putting my foot down, Thor, he ain't coming with you until _after_ we are finished with Mr. True Power down here. On Earth. He invaded us, we punish him. Easy, don't ya think?" Fury looked at Thor with his one good eye. Thor looked like a drowned puppy.

"I know why you wish to keep my brother here, son of Fury, but I beg of you. He _will _be punished."

Fury narrowed his eye, looking at Jane and Darcy. "I let you see your two friends. I let them into SHIELD, but that cost effort. I am not a magic worker, the Council wants him and I can't get out of this one, not this time. He _will _be sentenced here, no matter what you do. No matter what _I _do, for that matter. And get rid of the 'son of', right."

"But…"

"Mr. Fury…" Gasping for air, a young agent ran into the office. Darcy looked at him interested, and Fury looked annoyed.

"What is it, Dallman?"

"He – he is gone, sir."

Fury's eye narrowed a little bit more, Darcy could hardly see his pupil anymore. "_Who _is gone?"

"The prisoner, sir. His door was melted away."

Fury shot a mad eye at Thor, but he didn't see it, his face showing mingled worry and anger and a bit more worry. "I will find him," he said, and he ran out of the office."

"Oh no, don't you dare!" Fury said, but it was no use. Loki was gone. Thor was gone. And Jane was alone. Again.

**OOO**

**A/N: I want to thank all the lovely people who are following this story, it's so nice to know people are actually reading what you're writing. Love you all! 3**

Reviews brighten my day (: 


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He had expected Thor. His return. Not them. Not now.

"_Did you really think we wouldn't find you?" _

He could still hear the sound of their laughing, mocking voices in his head as he ached. In the cell, he had been powerless. He had denied it before, but he had been. He had had no magic to stop it and he couldn't use his hands. He had been able to kick two of them before they knocked him unconscious and dragged him along the hallways. They were stronger. They had weapons, and he had nothing. The guards at his cell were most likely dead and he didn't expect anyone to notice his disappearance any time soon. Thor was talking to his mortal – how could he have expected him to come back so soon? He had been stupid, like a child, even.

"_They won't find you here." _

He shivered. They were right – no one would find him here. They would have expected him to have escaped his cell, in some way. To run. They wouldn't expect Chitauri in here. For all they knew they were his allies, simply because they had been.

"_Hold on to it," the leader demanded. They had dragged him into a room he didn't know. It was colder than the other rooms, but his head hurt and he couldn't bring himself to opening his eyes. He was still in SHIELD, he knew that much. The floor felt the same as the floor in his cell, and as far as he knew he hadn't been outside. "Hold it." Only when he saw what Chitauri brought him here for, he understood. _

"_No," he said, in a clear voice, even though on the inside he was shaking. He was afraid, but he wouldn't admit it to himself. He was, because he knew what was coming. He had endured this times and times before, yet he knew this would be worse. _

"_How dare you speak against me. You are a failure, you hear me? You wanted to be a king, but you failed. You failed to make the mortals kneel. Now you will kneel, for us. For him. You will take our commands like we have taken yours, in vain. Hold on to it." The voice was cold as ice, he found it colder than his own. Detached, not a single drop of any emotion in it. Did they even feel? He sometimes wondered. _

_Before he could react, he felt a blunt pain splashing through his head. _

"_I said, take it." One of the Chitauri forced the sceptre into his hand, and before he knew it shivers ran down his spine. He wasn't on Midgard anymore. Not on SHIELD. Not where anyone could ever find him. And he was staring his master – and now his enemy – right in the eye. _

No one would expect him to still be in SHIELD. His body, at least. No one would find him. No one would care. He felt pain burning in his chest, in his limbs. Nothing ever really changed, he thought, and he gritted his teeth.

**OOO**

It had been three days, and she hadn't heard anything from Thor. Nothing. Nothing from SHIELD either. He had tossed her aside again. She knew it was unfair to think that way, but it was how she felt. Was this how it was going to be forever? Him just flying off to wherever, leaving her behind, wondering if he would ever return? What if he would take years again? She didn't know where his brother was. He could be in a complete different realm by now. Destroying buildings and killing people there. She sighed.

"Shall we go shopping?" Darcy asked. "I haven't packed enough."

"I bet you did that to have an _excuse_ to go shopping."

"Perhaps," Darcy grinned.

Suddenly there was a bang. The door opened and was slapped shut. Jane turned her head, only to saw who she wasn't expecting. "Thor…" she said. "Have you…?"

"No," he said, gritting his teeth, and he looked down. He walked up to her, raising his hand to her cheek, but she struck him across the face. The sound of it filled the room. He looked at her, puzzled. "What was that for?"

"You… I… You just ran off. Again. No goodbye, no nothing."

Thor looked at her, understanding. "I am sorry. I am sorry, Jane, but I have the deep wish to find my brother. I am worried of what he might do to others, and to himself."

She sighed. "I know. He doesn't deserve a brother like you."

Thor didn't react to that. "Did SHIELD call you?" Jane shook her head, and Thor sighed. "I don't know how to contact them. I want to know if they have found him."

"We could go see them, I guess?" Jane said. "If they let us in. They'll probably let you in."

Thor nodded, thankful that he didn't have to go alone.

"I'll get my jacket."

"Oi, what about the shopping?" Darcy said, but nobody was listening – they were already rushing out of the room.

**OOO**

How long had it been? A day? A week. He couldn't tell. His mind wouldn't work. Pain.

"_We will make you regret you ever dared to think you could outsmart us. Think you could stay on Midgard. Be safe." _

"_I didn't. They captured me, I didn't…" _

"_Silence."_

_More pain. _

He hadn't delivered what they had wanted. He hadn't been able to bring them the Tesseract. Now he would suffer.

"_You are a worthless."_

He had been left alone, on the cold ground. He knew his body was apparent in the room of SHIELD. He wished he could feel the hard metal floor of the SHIELD room where the sceptre had been, but he couldn't. All the could feel was the hard rock beneath his bleeding back.

_I who was and should be king. _

He had been a fool. He had been stupid. The deal he made had been a mistake. Now there was nowhere he could run, nowhere he would be safe. Never.

"_Silence, runt!"_

_He screamed and screamed until his throat ached and there was no longer a voice to scream with. He felt how the Chitauri hands ripped his skin apart, leaving nothing but the bleeding mess that was his body. He couldn't think anymore. He felt his bones break. He wanted to kick, push, anything, but his limbs wouldn't move. He had no magic, for the cuffs were restraining it. Not perfectly, but enough for him not to be able to use it, not under this circumstances. _

"_You couldn't even win a war against mortals. Ants. Simple insects who are destroying their own realm already. A realm of chaos. You, the proclaimed god of lies and chaos and evil, you couldn't even conquer a _world_ of chaos. You are a failure, nothing, unworthy of your titles. Unworthy of being a king. You will burn. You will do nothing but burn." _

_The tears had been long gone. He didn't have anything left. He felt empty. There was nothing left. There never had been. _

_Unworthy of the loved ones you have betrayed. _

Thanos didn't show himself again after the first time. He had expressed his disappointment and left him to his army. An army he would undoubtedly throw away once he had reached his goals. An army that nevertheless obeyed him without a second thought.

_Make it stop make it stop makeitstop. _

But it didn't.

**OOO**

**A/N: Thanks to all the people who followed/favorited this story or who have read one or more chapters anyway! **

**Please review ^^. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N I want to thank all you lovely people who are reading/following/favoriting/reviewing the story ^^ I also want to take this little moment to tell guest reviewer aubreigh I'm really flattered by his/her review ^^. **

**Chapter 5 **

"So I take this you haven't found him yet either?"

Thor shook his head. Fury had let them in without a second doubt, sort of hoping for his prisoner to be returned to him. Of course, his hope had been in vain.

"How did he escape, actually?" Jane asked. "I thought his magic was bound."

"It was – or is. We haven't found the handcuffs restraining his magic anywhere, and I doubt the walls would fail us. What I do know is that the prick killed two of our men guarding him and six other agents on his way out, and I want his ass back in that cell."

Thor frowned. "He couldn't… With the handcuffs still on, he can't make use of his magic. There is no way. They are Asgardian and they don't fail – they never have."

"There's a first time for everything," Fury noted.

Thor looked puzzled, confused, and also a bit worried. "May I see his cell? Perhaps I can…"

"Straples, take him there," Fury said, finally, lost for anything else to say. He knew the stubborn god wouldn't leave without having the idea of having done something useful. And hell, it wasn't like he had the slightest clue where to start. He was thinking of putting the Avengers back together again, but they probably wouldn't be all in for a Loki-search this short after what had happened. And he didn't feel like admitting that SHIELD messed up on this.

Thor looked at him, thankful, and Fury almost felt sorry for the fact that it wasn't going to be any use.

**OOO **

The agent took them to the cell, and left them there after getting an urgent phone call. The room didn't look different from the last time, not really. All it missed was the black haired figure in the middle of it, making sarcastic remarks. Everything was still metal and more metal.

"The walls are still restraining his magic," Thor said, eyeing rather confused.

"How are they doing that, exactly?" Jane asked, still trying to make sense of the whole magic-exists-thing. It didn't seem likely to her that SHIELD would be able to produce walls that restrain magic, although she was never sure with SHIELD. The handcuffs restraining Loki's magic came from Asgard, maybe – however unlikely it seemed – the walls had too? But then again, the walls looked pretty earthly.

"My mother had a spell put on it, she sent two of our most gifted magicians here. You see that little yellow shimmer on the wall?" Thor reached out for it, and touched the little yellow spot on the wall. It stirred under his touch and immediately an entire network of connected dots covered the walls, as yellow spider webs.

"Wow," was all Jane could bring herself to say.

"Holy shit,' she heard Darcy mutter beside her.

"It's beautiful," Jane said, looking at Thor, here eyes reflecting the marvellous little yellow lights.

Thor didn't look at her. "And it's working." He sighed. "It's no use. He couldn't have used his magic to escape… he must have used brute force."

"You say that as if that is unlikely," Jane said. It was more of a question, but she didn't really know how to ask. _Hey, why exactly do you think your brother isn't an insane psychopath who would kill people with his bare hands?_

Thor looked at her. "He was never the strongest out of the two of us, neither the best fighter. He used to have his magic, yet perhaps times have changed him."

_Perhaps… _

"Perhaps if he got hold of something magical, he could have…" And then Thor's face looked as if some light was turned on inside his head – not only metaphorically, but also because of the bright smile that made his whole face shine – just before he ran off. He seemed to do that a lot of times.

"Son of Fury, it there any magical artefact harboured here?"

The question seemed to take Fury by surprise. "SHIELD usually deals with science, not with magic, Thor, I thought you'd know that by now."

"_Usually?_" Darcy asked, but she was ignored.

"What became of the sceptre my brother had in use in New York?"

Fury looked at Thor warily, his one eye entirely focussed on the man. "We keep it in a room a few levels down. _Why?_"

"If my brother has gotten hold of the stick, he…"

"He couldn't have, if the sceptre had been taken out of the room, I would have been reported. And I haven't been."

Thor frowned. "Could we take a look? If my brother had his magic, he could have created a replica of it."

Fury sighed. "Alright. But only under supervision, you'll have to wait until Straples is back to take you there. And don't even _think _of coming near that thing."

Thor looked at him thankfully. Jane smiled, and Darcy just looked confused – both didn't even have a clue what this stick or sceptre of whatever was, but it gave Thor hope, and that was enough for Jane.

**OOO **

He couldn't move. He couldn't or he didn't want remember how. He wanted to raise his head, look around him, have the least bit of control over the situation he was in, see if he could find the smallest bit of shelter, but he couldn't even bring himself to opening his eyes. His head hurt and he couldn't think. Think. _Think. _What could he do? Nothing. _Think. _He could smell his own vomit and feel his blood slowly flowing out of his veins onto the rocks, where it didn't have any use. Not to him, not to anyone. Nothing seemed to have any use anymore.

_Monster monster monstermonstermonster. _

_Not worthy. _

_No one will come for you. _

_Weak weakweak. _

_Could never have a Frost Giantr sitting on the throne. _

Was he going insane? Was he insane? Had he always been? There was a sudden pain in his left flank and he gasped for breath.

"We will make you regret that you…"

Stopstopstop.

He didn't want to hear it anymore. He wanted to tear his ears off his head, but was merely reminded how he couldn't make a single muscle in his body move.

"Say something, prince."

With the last bit of his voice he had left, he begged. He, the rightful king – _monster Frost Giant unworthy _– begged. "Please," he whispered, his voice cracking even in the whisper. "Please." He felt a sharp pain in his back and heard the sound of skin being ripped apart. "Please," he cried.

"You think we will grant you mercy, beggar king?" a voice asked, mocking, and more voices flowed. Laughing, jeering.

Stopstopstopstoppleasestop.

A sword pierced through his leg, cracking the bone, and then there was nothing left but screams forcing their way out of his throat, and then silence.

_He will make you long for something as sweet as pain. _

**OOO **

**Please review (: **


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